Keith Ellison (born February 6, 1984) is a former

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team wi ...

linebacker Linebacker (LB) is a playing position in gridiron football. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and line up three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage and the defensive linemen. They are the "middle ground" of defenders, ...

. He was drafted by the Buffalo Bills in the sixth round of the

2006 NFL Draft The 2006 National Football League Draft, the 71st in league history, took place in New York City, New York, at Radio City Music Hall on April 29 and April 30, 2006. For the 27th consecutive year, the draft was telecast on ESPN and ESPN2, with add ...

. He played college football at

Oregon State Oregon State University (OSU) is a public land-grant, research university in Corvallis, Oregon. OSU offers more than 200 undergraduate-degree programs along with a variety of graduate and doctoral degrees. It has the 10th largest engineering col ...

Early years

Ellison attended

Redondo Union High School Redondo Union High School (RUHS) is a public high school in Redondo Beach, California. Redondo Union High School is a part of the Redondo Beach Unified School District. All residents of Redondo Beach are zoned to Redondo Union. In addition, resi ...

Redondo Beach, California Redondo Beach (Spanish for ''round'') is a coastal city in Los Angeles County, California, United States, located in the South Bay region of the Greater Los Angeles area. It is one of three adjacent beach cities along the southern portion of Sa ...

and was a student and a standout in football and

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...

. In football, he played

quarterback The quarterback (commonly abbreviated "QB"), colloquially known as the "signal caller", is a position in gridiron football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive platoon and mostly line up directly behind the offensive line. In modern Ame ...

, linebacker and

safety Safety is the state of being "safe", the condition of being protected from harm or other danger. Safety can also refer to the control of recognized hazards in order to achieve an acceptable level of risk. Meanings There are two slightly dif ...

, and as a senior, he was named the Bay League's Defensive Player of the Year and was an All-

California Interscholastic Federation The California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) is the governing body for high school sports in the U.S. state of California. CIF membership includes both public and private high schools. Unlike most other state organizations, it does not have a ...

selection. In basketball, he was a four-year letterman and starter. Keith Ellison graduated from Redondo Union High School in 2002.

College career

He played 2 years of college football at

Oregon State University Oregon State University (OSU) is a public land-grant, research university in Corvallis, Oregon. OSU offers more than 200 undergraduate-degree programs along with a variety of graduate and doctoral degrees. It has the 10th largest engineering c ...

, one year at

El Camino College El Camino College (Elco or ECC) is a two-year public community college located in the unincorporated area of Los Angeles County known as Alondra Park.San Diego State University San Diego State University (SDSU) is a public research university in San Diego, California. Founded in 1897 as San Diego Normal School, it is the third-oldest university and southernmost in the 23-member California State University (CSU) system ...

, and was drafted in the 6th round of the

as the 178th overall pick.

Professional career

Keith Ellison is currently a Physical Education Teacher for the 7th and 8th grade at Adams Middle School, Redondo Beach California.

Buffalo Bills

Ellison started his first NFL game in week two of the 2006 season, replacing the injured

Takeo Spikes Takeo Gerard Spikes (; born December 17, 1976) is a former American football linebacker who played in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for Auburn University. He was drafted by the Cincinnati Bengals 13th overall in ...

. Ellison went on to start 7 games for the Bills in 2006, filling in for both Takeo Spikes and Angelo Crowell because of injuries they suffered throughout the year. Ellison, standing at 6'0" 228 pounds, recorded 65 total

tackles Tackle may refer to: * In football: ** Tackle (football move), a play in various forms of football ** Tackle (gridiron football position), a position in American football and Canadian football ** Dump tackle, a forceful move in rugby of picking u ...

(33 solo), 1 sack, 1

interception In ball-playing competitive team sports, an interception or pick is a move by a player involving a pass of the ball—whether by foot or hand, depending on the rules of the sport—in which the ball is intended for a player of the same team ...

, and 1 fumble recovery in 2006, his

rookie A rookie is a person new to an occupation, profession, or hobby. In sports, a ''rookie'' is a professional athlete in their first season (or year). In contrast with a veteran who has experience and expertise, a rookie is usually inexperienced ...

campaign. Ellison has spent the 2007 season as the starting

weakside linebacker Linebacker (LB) is a playing position in gridiron football. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and line up three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage and the defensive linemen. They are the "middle ground" of defenders, p ...

for the Bills. In his first three years at Buffalo he has recorded a total of 177 tackles, 2 interceptions, and 2 sacks. A

restricted free agent A restricted free agent (RFA) is a type of free agent in the National Football League (NFL), National Hockey League (NHL), or National Basketball Association (NBA). Such players have special restrictions on the terms under which they can retain ...

in the 2009 offseason, Ellison signed a one-year, $1.01 million contract with the Bills on March 25. The Buffalo Bills announced March 4, 2010 that it has tendered a contract offer to restricted free agent linebacker Keith Ellison, a sixth-round pick in 2006. The tender is worth $1,176,000. On November 27, 2010, Ellison was placed on injured reserve by the Bills. For the season with the Bills, Ellison played in eight games (starting two) and totaled 20 tackles.

Teaching career

Sometime after, Ellison became a teacher at Adams Middle School. He mainly teaches history and physical education.

Personal

Ellison is the older brother of

Kevin Ellison, who was drafted out of the

University of Southern California , mottoeng = "Let whoever earns the palm bear it" , religious_affiliation = Nonsectarian—historically Methodist , established = , accreditation = WSCUC , type = Private research university , academic_affiliations = , endowment = $8.1 ...

in the

2009 NFL Draft The 2009 NFL Draft was the seventy-fourth annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible football players. The draft took place at Radio City Music Hall in New York City, New York, on April 25 and 26, 2009. ...

; like his older brother, the younger Ellison was selected around the same time: in the 6th round, 189th overall, by the San Diego Chargers. Another brother, Chris, played for

BYU Brigham Young University (BYU, sometimes referred to colloquially as The Y) is a private research university in Provo, Utah. It was founded in 1875 by religious leader Brigham Young and is sponsored by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day S ...

in 1997 and 1998.

References

External links

Buffalo Bills bioOregon State Beavers bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ellison, Keith 1984 births Living people Players of American football from Los Angeles American football linebackers Oregon State Beavers football players Buffalo Bills players Sportspeople from Redondo Beach, California Players of American football from Los Angeles County, California Redondo Union High School alumni